Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
But some are kept asleep, morning and night, lost in themselves. Living only for their own ego, they stay tied up and silenced by death, here and later.
A life lived only for yourself is like sleeping through the day, and it keeps you tied up.
Jaahi savaarai saajh bi-aal — those kept asleep, evening and morning. This is the dark mirror of the verse before. The manmukh, the person facing only themselves, is asleep inside. They are awake on the outside, but asleep to what matters.
It ut manmukh baadhay kaal — here and hereafter, they are bound by kaal, death. Think of a phone stuck in sleep mode. It is there, but it cannot really do anything.
Notice how carefully this is said. Being a manmukh is a direction you are facing, not who you are forever. The same person can turn around at any moment. This sleep is the opposite of the awake inner eyes an earlier shabad described.
What does it feel like to be spiritually "asleep" versus "awake"?
Translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa·How we use AI